Joe.My.God. LGBT News

Local hater John Stemberger is at it again with help from the Orlando-based Liberty Counsel. Via CBS Miami: With Florida’s gay marriage ban scheduled to be lifted on January 6th, a conservative group is trying to put the brakes on the plan. The Florida Family Action Inc. filed two lawsuits Tuesday, asking a judge to prevent the officials from either …

Via Equality Florida: Publix has announced that starting on January 1, 2015, they will be expanding benefits to legally married same-sex couples. “Publix is expanding spouse coverage for its health, dental and vision benefits plans to associates who are married in any state where same-sex marriages are legal, regardless of the associates’ state of residence. Publix’s benefits plans offer coverage …

Via World Net Daily: When the famous ball drops on New Year’s Eve in New York City’s Times Square, a message will be there to remind “our intolerant liberal friends” about the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment. Answers in Genesis, the Christian ministry best known for operating the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky, announced it is purchasing a recurring, 15-second spot …

Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield became an internet sensation last year when he posted his performance of David Bowie’s Space Oddity from the International Space Station. Today Hadfield posts an optimistic view of the coming year in a clip that appears to have been produced with some help from the Gates Foundation.

Via the Associated Press: California public health officials have issued an alert after finding “very strong evidence” that an adult film actor became infected with HIV as a result of unprotected sex on an out-of-state film shoot. The Department of Public Health said Monday that the male actor tested positive for the virus that causes AIDS after engaging in unprotected …

Via the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel: The Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau plans to invite at least 100 couples from around the country and around the world to marry oceanside in a common ceremony sometime this winter, said Nicki Grossman, president of the Broward County tourism group in an interview. The 100 number also will honor Broward’s 100th birthday …

Via CNN:  Rep. Michael Grimm announced late Monday night plans to resign from Congress, after pleading guilty to a felony tax evasion charge last week. The announcement came just hours after a source familiar with Grimm’s thinking told CNN he would resign “sooner rather than later,” after the New York Daily News broke the news of Grimm’s plans to step …

“With unforeseen success has come, unfortunately, a lot of challenges for which I was not prepared. Due to some of these challenges, and in the interest of protecting contributors and correspondents, we have had to take down and archive the 2,000 posts that were published here; we have warehoused them somewhere safe but cannot leave them as open-source resources to …

Via the Los Angeles Times: Searchers recovered bodies from the Java Sea on Tuesday and found what officials said wreckage from Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501 as the three-day mystery over the plane’s whereabouts reached a heartbreaking resolution for the families of 162 people aboard. “I am absolutely devastated,” Tony Fernandes, AirAsia’s chief executive, said in a statement. “This is a …

In a holiday message posted earlier this month, outgoing Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and his wife included an image of a gay sailor proposing to his boyfriend. (Via Towleroad)